Storage batteries of the type used in automobiles, trucks, and other motor vehicles generally have a terminal post made of a lead alloy or other conductive material. These terminal posts are of a generally cylindrical or frusto-conical shape. The battery is connected to the components of the vehicle's electrical system with a battery cable assembly. The cable assembly has connectors which clamp to the battery posts, providing a secure electrical and mechanical connection.
A conventional connector for connecting cables to the battery may be a molded, generally U-shaped device with a bolt passing through outwardly projecting yoke-like arms. These connectors are securely clamped to the battery terminal post.
Alternatively, the connector may be a stamped metal battery terminal connector, fabricated from a flat sheet of copper or another conductive metal.
In either event, the bolt passing through the yoke-like arms is associated with a nut. When the nut is tightened on the bolt, the yoke-like arms move towards each other. The perimeter of a opening or hole defined by those arms is thereby reduced in size, and thus tightly grips the battery terminal post. In contrast, when the nut is loosened on the bolt, the yoke-like arms move away from each other, loosening the grip of the battery terminal connector on the battery terminal posts. Under these loosened conditions, the battery terminal connector can be removed from the battery terminals.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,202 (“the '202 patent”) is directed to one type of a battery terminal connector. This connector can be tightened onto the battery terminal post using a threaded nut that is positioned above, rather than on the side of, the connector. As a result, especially in tight, confining areas often found under the hoods of modern, smaller automobiles, the nut is more easily accessed during installation, as compared to the accessibility of the threaded nuts that are secured to the sides of many prior art connectors.
In the case of the '202 patent battery terminal connectors, or connectors generally similar to those described in the '202 patent, tools must be used to install or remove the battery terminal connectors.
Even when these battery terminal connectors are new, the yoke-arms are alternatively brought together and separated by applying a box end wrench to the bolt, and then turning that box end wrench. Typically, the nut is held securely in the battery terminal connector, and as a result resists rotation. Thus, no wrench needs to be applied to the nut.
Commonly, battery terminal connectors on a new car remain untouched during the first four to five years of the life of the automobile. Typically, the terminal connectors are first contacted only upon the discharge of the OEM battery, when that battery must be replaced, or when electrical maintenance or repairs are necessary.
In the four to five years in the hostile under-hood environment of an automobile, the battery terminal connectors are subjected to shock, vibration, dirt, moisture, corrosion-inducing salt spray from the roads, and temperature extremes ranging from perhaps −30 degrees Fahrenheit to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. As a result, the battery terminal connectors and the nut and bolt are often extremely corroded, and in some cases deformed.
When an automotive technician or the automobile owner attempts to loosen such damaged battery terminal connectors, the nut and bolt on the connector is often so corroded that the wrench “rounds” or deforms the nut, or the head of the bolt. Even if the nut and bolt can be turned and loosened by the wrench, the yoke-like arms often will not separate.
Under these circumstances, the technician or automobile owner must place a screwdriver or other thin-bladed implement in the narrow space between the yoke-like arms. The screwdriver is then rotated, so that the blade contacts and forcibly pushes the arms apart.
This will usually, but not always, permit the removal of the battery terminal connector from the battery terminal post. Sometimes, upward pressure must be applied by a screwdriver, a small pry-bar, or some other flat-bladed implement. Particularly, the screwdriver or pry-bar is inserted between the top of the battery case and the bottom of the battery terminal connector, and the connector is then pried away from the top of the battery case. This will usually move the battery terminal connector away from the battery case.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a battery terminal connector that has integral structures, which integral structures can be used to facilitate the attachment of the battery terminal connector to the battery terminal post, without the use of tools. It would also be desirable to provide a battery terminal connector that has internal structures that can facilitate the loosening of the battery terminal connector from the battery terminal. Finally, it would be desirable to provide a battery terminal connector that can be opened to a great extent, i.e., to an extent greater than the minimal extent necessary to remove the connector from the battery terminal, so as to facilitate the removal of a corroded terminal connector from a battery terminal, without the need for tools.
Additional relevant prior art references include U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,250,973, 6,174,207; 5,941,738, 5,879,202, 5,800,219, 5,738,552, 5,733,152, 5,711,688, 5,672,442, 5,616,055; 5,599,210, 5,595,510; 5,316,505, 5,269,709; 5,254,020; 4,354,726, 4,063,794, 4,054,355, 3,568,138; 2,769,964; 2,706,284; 2,271,692; 1,803,718; and 1,596,891.
The present invention is provided to solve the problems discussed above and other problems, and to provide advantages and aspects not provided by prior art battery terminal connectors of this type. A full discussion of the features and advantages of the present invention is deferred to the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.